Strain gauge



June 1941- A. u. HUGGENBERGER STRAIN GAUGE Filed March 14, 1959 Y E N R O T Patented June 17, 1941 Application March 14, 1939, sa a-star In Switzerland Octoberf171938 V 3 Claims. (01. et s-'14s) This invention relates generally to strain gauges for measuring and indicating the strain of material specimens or of life size members.

The quantity to be measured is usually indicated in a greatly enlarged scale on a dial by stages which is unsatisfactory because each resetting operation gives rise toerrors which impair the accuracyrequired,

means of a special mechanism which heretofore has included only levers or only pinions or a combination of these elements. Operation of this mechanism requires a force of certain "amount, sometimes called a force of shift.

This force of shift gives rise to a certain reactive force which acts upon the measuring instrument on the one hand and upon the object to be'measured on the other hand. If the force of shift is great and the test specimen is of a certain soft- 'It'f.is an object of myinventio'n to provide an impro ed extensometer that,'in one continuous operationQwill effect correct measurements with great accuracy and sensitivity while at the same time insure 'that' the force of shift is kept as "small as possible tensometer thatis'lrelatively simple in construcness, a reaction may occur which prevents Dre cision transfer of the quantity to be measured. It is therefore of basic importance for a correct measurement that the force of shiftbe assmall as possible. pinions alone, or pinions in combination with levers, require a relatively great force of shift so that these measuring instruments cannot be used for highly sensitive measurements.

In testing materials it is also necessary under, certain circumstances to determine thejhysteresis' characteristics of the material. This value represents the permanent deformation or elongation remaining after loading and unloading the test specimens. Also, a test may frequently pass the Prior art devices which: employ yield point of the material thereby necessitating" an especially great range of measuring since the deformation upon reaching the yield pointincreases rapidly. On the other hand, duringan unloading operation a permanent elongation is ,Another objectis to, provide animproved extion and operation "and'provides great ease of readingas well as being rugged without impairing its I accuracy and sensitivity and which also has improved means forpreventing damage to the instrument when 'the absolute limit ofits ca- Other objects and advantages will be more ap- "par ent to those skilled in the art from the foling in which yf f r H I Figl is alongitudinalsection through my. im-

lowing description of the accompanying drawproved device shown in somewhatenlarged scale for sake of clarity;

Fig. 2 is a 'verticalisection taken on the line F1 13 is a planvi ew of the dial shown'in Fig.1;

" is a: transverse section taken orithe line Fig. fi'isiafhorizontal section taken substani-t el lbn the ine i -e'i F g-v 1;

usually a very small quantity which has to be ascertained with great accuracy. These two requirements, i. e. a great measurin'g'rangeand 7 great accuracy and sensitivity' have not been satisfactorily accomplished by the extensometers of the prior art. has possessed a great measuringrang'e but at considerable sacrificeof sensitivity and accuracy, this being particularly true of those devices which operate by means of pinions or a'combination thereof with levers. In other instances. prior art instruments fulfill the requirements as to sensitivity and accuracy but their measuring range is not sufiiciently great. This class of instruments is generally operated solely by levers, mirrors and the like. In other types of instruments, the indicating hand or pointer can'be reset to an initial zero position upon reaching the limit of the measuring range after which the test is continued. Such an operation i done by .Figj'z 1's gaverticals ection of a modified knife leve'rwhi edge fiilcrum' for 'supportingi the pivotal end of a chf cooperate's with the screw spindle of ved device;

g. 8 1S:a, fragmentary side elevation of a modified lever "arrangement; 40 1 I In some instances, the'prionart f Fi d j l ig. 9 is"a horizontal section taken on the line system. v

In the particular embodiment o'f the. invention, such as is disclosed herein merelyfor the purpose Fig. '10 is alfurth er modification of the lever *of illustrating certain specificforms" among possibleothers thatt h invention might take in practice, I'have shown a housing I closedon all sides and containing my improved mechanism for transferring strain from the specimen to the indicating means. This transfer mechanism includes a lever 2 pivotally supported as at 3 while the other end of lever 2 has a pin 4, Fig. 6, located laterally of a spindle 5 and extending into a helical thread or groove 6 broadly defining a of shift is applied thereto.

helical directrix of suitable pitch so that the screw may be rotated by lever 2 when the force The spindle 5 is suitably journalled in transverse brackets 1 and 8 connected to the sides of housing I. The pin 4 is maintained in contact with one side of the helical groove 6 by a spring 9 whose ends are secured respectively to lever 2 and to a lower U-shapedrail fl4 which formsL'the lowermost portion forthe housing' I. The housing and rail provide a sturdy and compact frame. The pivotal end of lever 2 is provided with an arm l'fl which is suitably formed rigidly with theelever 2 and has a gauge point ll preferably in theform of a knife edge. a second gauge member 12,. preferably in the form of a knife edge or other suitable substitute form as may be required, is longitudinally slidably supported within or removable from a dovetailed. channel l3lextending along the .bottom of rail 14.

The" helical spindle 5 is -.normally' rotatably biased, in one direction by asmall spiral .spring 16 whose outerend is connected as .atl'IfFig. 2,

to .housing I .and whose inner .endfisconnected .to astem l8 projectingifrom. an'dfformed as a .parteof spindlej5. A dial'face or annulusfi I915 rotatably supported in a suitablerecess. beneath. a dial .cover 20 ..and has .a. central openin 'lbelow which -a preferablyfixed plate i2|.is .disposed so as 1to..provide a second .dial face.22, Fig..3. .The plate 2 I is suitablyisecuredtolthe sides oflhouslog. I A- pointer. 23. issecured to. spindle stem l8 while a. second,.pointer ,24 is. rotated 'from ..stem l8 through areducingpinion and. gear. generally indicated at 25. Pointer24 indicates .onea dial 22 the number .of revolutions madelbyfpointer 23. To initially. set dial [.9 .to.zero,,preparatory .to startinga test, .a bevel gearsegmentl26. is secured to annulus l9 while a bevel pinionis rotated by.a finger knob..2'| journalledinhousing l.

In,operation,jthe.gauge pointsJLand 12. are suitably held against a specimemgenerally indicatedat. 28 .whereupon ..elongation oncontraction of the specimen will cause the lever 2 to swing up or .down .and .therebycause. rotation .of spindle 5 through the .slide ,pin 4 .and helical groove 6. Pointer23 will indicate the extent of-deformation, although. if. the .deformation is sufficiently large so as to cause multiple revolutions of pointer .24 then .pointer v24 .can vbe .followed to indicate the total number-bf revolutions .made by .pointere23. .It is-seen that thisiwill insure alarge range .for lthe .instrumentalthough iflthe defor- .mationshouldtend to: exceedthercapacity of the instrument, then as lever 2.moves downwardlyit {will ultimately engage--a.pin .30 which slidably extends through rail .Msintobon-tact with-the ,surface ..of,specime'n 28. (Hence engagement of lever'2 with pin 30 will'causegauge point. and

the left. end oflhousingll .tobelbodily lifted :away from the specimen andthereby avoid damageto (the instrument.

1.2 andr seated ina suitable .bracket 32lsecuredlto rail H. .A gauge point .33rislformed integrally To determinezfthe gaugel length, a

with the knife edge fulcrum 3 I. If it is desired to employ a multiplying action in combination with the helical spindle 5, a combined gauge point and knife fulcrum 34, Fig. 8, is supported upon bracket 35 and is provided with a short lever arm 36 engageable with a lever arm 31 of a lever 38 corresponding to lever 2. Lever 38 is pivotally supported at 38 in the housing I. Instead of supporting lever 36 by a knife fulcrum, a pivot pin -4l may be inserted through bracket 35 and lever 36. Either modification of Figs. 8 or 10 will give any desired multiplying action, while at the same timemaintaining the advantages of the helical spindle. Due to the preferably knife edge contact of lever36 with arm 31, there is minimum possi- .bilityv of error notwithstanding the large degree a of multiplication that might be obtained. It will, of course, be understood that this instrument is held in contact with the specimen in a usual and well-known-manner either by hand or by suitable. clamping means, one common form of which .isrubber bands encircling the instrument and specimen. Also, if desired, the rail 14 may be .formed of Invar steelso as torender the trans- .fer mechanism, insensitive against temperature changes. It then .becomes possible'to measure testlspecimens under certain temperature conditions.

From the foregoing disclosure it is seen that I. have provided an instrument having a large range while maintaining maximum accuracy and sensitivity and at thesame time the instrument is. rugged, compact and easily placed in operation 'wi'thexcellent vision of the indicating pointers.

It will of coursebe understood that various .changesin .details of. construction and arrange- .mentof partsmay be made by those skilled in .the art without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

.I claim:

.1. ,The combination in a strain measuring instrument comprising a frame, gauge means car- ,ried by said frame for contacting a specimen,

strain responsive indicating mechanism carried by. said .frame, andmeans for lifting one of said 7 gauge points from the specimen automatically whenthe strain reaches a predetermined limit.

'22. In .astrain measuring instrument comprisingaframe, .a, gauge point, means for slidably adjustingsaidgauge point on said frame so as to effect incremental adjustments, a second gauge point-pivotally-.supported by said frame, ..and. strain indicating. means operated by said pivotaLgauge point. 1

"3.The combination in a strain measuring instrumentcomprisinga rail, a gauge point slidably carriedby said rail: so as to effect incremental adjustmentsof the gaugelength, a housing sup- ,portedbysaid rail, a second gauge point pivotally connected. to,.said rail, and strain indicating means ,operatedQby said pivotal gauge point disposed entirely :within said housing in fixed're- .l'ationltheretoandoperatively connected to said .pivotaLgauge point to be actuated thereby upon re1ative..movementbetween said gauge points.

' ARNOLD U.-HUGGENBERGER. 

